Getting Organized: One Mini-Project at a Time
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- Written by Jocelyn Kenner
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Was "getting organized" on your list of New Year's resolutions? So, how is that going? Would you like some encouragement, or perhaps a little push? How about a secret to get you started? You have come to the right place! Here is the secret to organizing success......mini. Yes, that is right – mini. Mini organizing projects are the secret to your organizational success.
What is a mini organizing project? A mini-organizing project is anything you can do in 30 minutes or less. For example, organizing the junk drawer in your kitchen. This is not to be misinterpreted as "organize the kitchen" because that is the farthest thing from a mini project! I know you are thinking, "But my whole kitchen could really use some serious attention." Tackling a kitchen is a big, overwhelming task that makes most people want to crawl under a rock. However, if you break down "organize the kitchen" into mini projects you will be amazed at how manageable they are and how inspiring they will feel. Here are other mini projects for the kitchen:
- Plastic storage food containers: match up bottoms to lids and discard any that do not have a match, are badly stained or corroded. Be honest with yourself when it comes to how many you need to keep in your kitchen. If you are not using half of the containers then it is time to recycle them.
- Under the kitchen sink: go through the supplies stored under the sink and discard anything expired or no longer useful.
- One shelf of your pantry
- One counter top
- One shelf in the refrigerator or freezer
- The outside of the refrigerator door
Mini organizing projects can be done anywhere:
- Clean out the inside of your car
- Organize one medicine cabinet
- Go through your stack of magazines
- Clean out your pocketbook or briefcase
- Roll the coins you have been collecting on the counter
- Deal with one pile of "stuff" in the corner that has been there for months
If it helps, write down a list of the mini organizing projects you would like to accomplish and use the list as a guide. Be true to yourself and only do tasks that can be done in 30 minutes or less. Use a kitchen timer or the timer on your smart phone to keep track of the time. Trust me when I tell you that accomplishing mini organizing projects will leave you feeling motivated and hopeful about your home. A series of mini organizing projects, whether you do them once a day, or once a week, will set you on the path to an organized home.
Jocelyn is a member of NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers) and ICD (Institute for Challenging Disorganization). Jocelyn has been helping Westchester residents organize their homes for the past six years. Jocelyn is skilled at identifying her clients needs and implementing personalized, useful, and painless ways to manage the contents of their homes. Jocelyn lives in Scarsdale, NY with her husband, two children, and three cats. She can be reached at Jocelyn@kenner.org or www.seeyourwayclear.com.
Young Scarsdale Wrestling Team Excels at Home Tournament
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- Written by Daniel Jureller
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On January 11th, the Scarsdale wrestling team hosted its annual wrestling tournament at Scarsdale High School. This strong Raiders squad continues to demonstrate exceptional skills and finished in 4th place out of the 14 teams in the tournament. Despite having a young team with many new athletes, both head coach Barney Foltman and assistant coach Brian Roemer were tremendously proud of the team’s performance. Foltman expressed his satisfaction with his team, stating, “I was very surprised with how well we performed today. This just goes to show how dedication and hard work on the mat can pay off.” The two coaches understand the mechanics behind building a strong team and have been able to do that in past years.
Despite losing senior leaders Michael Hodges and Joe Koshakow, who finished on top in 
the section last season, the performance of the sophomores and juniors was a source of optimism for the team’s future. Junior captain Robbie Keltz at 120 pounds excelled and cruised his way into the finals just as he did last year. With a close match on the line, Keltz fell short with a decision loss to Garden City. Keltz was not the only Scarsdale captain to finish among the top 3 wrestlers in his weight class. At 138 pounds, Philip Goldberg, despite losing his second round match, wrestled back to win a closely edged contest over White Plains with a 3-2 victory, securing the bronze medal. Junior Daniel Baruch at 145 pounds was another Raider to finish in 3rd place. Despite knee injuries throughout the season, Baruch put on an exceptional performance making his way into the semifinal round. With 20 seconds left and down by 1 point, Baruch was unable to seal a victory and fell short to eventual champion James Giraldez of Nyack. Baruch did not let this close match seal his fate for the balance of the tournament, and wrestled boldly to secure a 9-6 victory over Garden City, landing him in 
3rd place.
Duplicating his performance at the Scarsdale tournament from last season, sophomore Michael DaBramo at 113 pounds never ceases to impress with his sharp technique and aggressive mindset. Coming in as the #1 seed, DaBramo picked apart his opponents and cruised his way into the finals. He continued to dominate and crushed Stepinac with a 11-0 victory. With two consecutive 1st place finishes in the Scarsdale tournament, DaBromo’s future looks bright. Coach Roemer expressed, “There’s just no teaching him. Somehow, someway, he will find a way to win.”
Following a great performance by many of the Raider wrestlers this past weekend, Scarsdale hopes to continue its success in the upcoming Edgemont tournament, in which Scarsdale has consistently placed in the top three. But the long season does not stop here as Coach Foltman and the Raiders begin to prepare for the upcoming divisional and sectional tournaments in the beginning of February. With a squad consisting predominantly of sophomores and juniors, many members of the team are eager to make a name for themselves during the remainder of the season. 
Photo Credit: Lauren Haller
Volunteer Firefighters Welcome New Member
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- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
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Scarsdale Volunteer Fire Company 3 recently voted in a new member to the company this week. Captain Jeffrey Koslowsky that Justin Disanto has joined the company that currently has 36 active members and is continuing to serve the Village of Scarsdale through the Scarsdale Fire Department. The volunteer company has been active for more than 75 years. Pictured here from left to right is Captain Jeffrey Koslowsky, new member Justin Disanto and Company President Joe Mongarella.
Raiders Second Half Comeback Against New Rochelle Falls Short
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- Written by Jason Miller
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The Scarsdale Varsity Basketball squad has had a season of "ups and downs" according to senior Matt Katz. After beating South Bronx High School on opening night (12/6) in the Maroon and White Kari Pizzitola Tournament 60-55, the Scarsdale Raiders, led by sophomore guard Caleb Krohn (13.8ppg), lost a heart-breaking one-point game to Fox Lane in the finals the next day, a game that Katz and junior Chris Langrebe agreed could have been a victory. After the tough loss, they had to go and play a ranked Mount Vernon team on its home floor (12/11), losing in an 85-47 blowout followed by their third loss in a row to Putnam Valley HS two days later, 62-46.
However, they were able to turn it around. Instead of taking out the negatives from the losing streak, the Raiders took the positives to beat Pawling by a whopping 43 points in the Brewster Tournament on December 15th. The winning would be short-lived as Scarsdale then traveled north to play an undefeated Mahopac HS on December 20th and lost by 23 points. The lose-win pattern would continue after the two-week Christmas break with a nail-biting 71-66 win at Clarkstown North on January 7th. They fell short of a comeback the following day at home to a New Rochelle team led by senior guard Derek Dorn (16.9ppg) to suffer another heart-breaking loss. Junior Chris Langrebe analyzed the season: "we have had a rough start to the season but I don't think our record reflects our true potential."
On Wednesday 1/8, the Raiders met New Rochelle at home. When the Huguenots scored the first seven points of the game, it looked like it could be another blowout for the Raiders. Then, just past the halfway point of the first quarter, senior Grant Goodman (7pts) hit a corner two, senior Andreas Larsen (18pts) came back with an And 1, which was followed by a Langrebe (8pts) jumper to tie the game. The Huguenots answered with four quick points and took a 14-11 lead into the second quarter.
The visitors came out in the second quarter with a full court press that the Raiders were able to break with a lot of ball movement, and the two teams spent most of the quarter exchanging points. That changed in a hurry with over two minutes to play in the half when a tired Scarsdale team allowed New Rochelle to finish the half on a strong 10-0 run, giving New Rochelle a healthy 36-22 lead into the locker rooms. Once again, it looked like Scarsdale would get blown away. Said senior Matt Katz, "We played a very poor second quarter and got down big and just couldn't fight all the way back even though we came close."
A comeback looked possible when the Raiders scored five quick points to open up the second half. In the first minute, they hit a jumper and a three ball and fans rallied when they saw a fourteen-point lead cut to a more reasonable nine in the blink of an eye. Led by Larsen, the Raiders showed a lot more energy than they had in the first half to outscore the Huguenots 15-8 in the third quarter. Scarsdale was down ten, when in the closing seconds sophomore guard, Caleb Krohn, nailed his first points of the game on a clutch buzzer-beating three and narrowing the Huguenots lead to seven, 44-37.
New Rochelle saw a once 14-point lead cut in half going into the final quarter, and it looked like this game would come down to heroics. The buzzer-beater by Krohn fired up both his teammates and the crowd as he and Larsen continued to lead a spectacular comeback. A huge And 1 on a Larsen fast break cut the Huguenots lead to a just a single point with 3:10 to go when New Rochelle coach Bill Murphy called yet another timeout to try to stop this run. Scoring continued after the timeout back and forth, but another three-pointer from Krohn with under ten seconds to go proved too late as the Huguenots held on to win 57-52 behind Derek Dorn's 27 points. Raider Langrebe said that "we proved how tough and resilient we truly are, and Katz added, "I definitely think we can beat this team next time."
Katz summarized the season as having "its ups and downs" and "definitely had some missed opportunities." Langrebe added, "I think we will pick it up and exceed some expectations." The two agreed that they lost two close ones to Fox Lane and New Rochelle and could have won those games. Scarsdale went on to lose to Byram Hills on Friday night (1/10), 68-57, after falling down big in the first quarter despite Krohn's 21 points. The team now stands at 3-6 on the season.
Its next three games are @Mamaroneck on 1/14 at 7PM, @White Plains on 1/16 at 4:15PM, and vs. Mt. Vernon on 1/22 at 4:15PM.
Scarsdale High School Elects New Student Leaders
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- Written by Isabel Klein
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On Wednesday, December 11th the walls of Scarsdale High School were lined with colorful posters with catchy slogans as candidates made speeches in front of the whole school in preparation for the school government elections. Candidates were vying to be elected as school president, vice president, secretaries (there are two positions), and treasurer.
The process of running for one of the positions in school government requires the candidates to post flyers around the school and give a short speech to the rest of their peers and faculty. Generally, these flyers and speeches are funny in nature.
For example, often posters will include pop culture references or pictures of celebrities with the candidate's own picture photo-shopped in place of the celebrity's face.
After a school-wide vote, the winning candidates were announced. The newly officers are:
President: Amanda Shuster
Vice President: Matt Mandel
Treasurer: John Kaspers
Secretaries: Leah Kashar and Lindsay Kim
Here are interviews with the new school president and vice president.
President Elect: Amanda Shuster
Grade: Junior
Campaign Goals: "I tried to keep it simple and I just wanted to get my name out there. For my posters and flyers, I basically just kept it clear and wrote "Vote 4 Amanda".
Government Experience: "Last year, I was the house representative and I really enjoyed being involved in the school."
Privileges: "I don't have that many privileges as president that the other government members don't have because we all work as a team. As president, I will have to lead the government meetings once a month, and meet with faculty and administration or anyone else who wants to have an event at the school."
Goals: "We're still in the transition period between the old and new government members so we haven't had much time to discuss many new ideas. But, in the one meeting we did have so far, we did discuss working on a spirit week for the school and developing different community service events for the school. "
I am looking forward to accomplishing our goals for the year. This seems like a solid team of new government members that will help to make positive changes in the school.
Vice President Elect: Matt Mandel
Grade: Junior
Campaign Goals: "Elections at the high school are generally won by candidates with comic appeal so I tried to give my fliers and speech substance with humor. I tried to involve movie reference in my fliers. For example, in one of my fliers I played off the quote from Mean Girls, "On Wednesday we wear pink" by writing, "On Wednesdays we vote for Matt" in an attempt to relate to students."
Government Experience: "I've been in government for four years, including middle school as well as freshman and sophomore year. I really like government because I think it's a good opportunity to give back to the school by creating events people will enjoy. I want to have an influence on projects around the school."
Privileges: "As a privilege, I get to come to school an hour earlier on Tuesday every month for a government meeting." [Laughs]
Goals: "We had our first meeting today, and we discussed some projects the old government wanted to fulfill before they left, and those are going to be the first projects our government undertakes. For example, in the fall we had a very successful spirit week so we want to do that in the winter for winter sports teams leading up to the boys and girls final basketball games."
"I am really excited to be vice president to be working alongside Amanda, Lindsay, Leah, and John. The old government members were great role models and I hope we will be as successful as they were."
